Frenchman Recaptured After Two Weeks On The Run in Lombok

A French drug suspect who escaped from a prison in Lombok nearly two weeks ago has been recaptured, police said on Saturday, February 2.

35-year-old Felix Dorfin, who is facing the death penalty if convicted, was found hiding in a forest in North Lombok on Friday night and was returned to jail in Mataram, the capital of the island.

“He didn’t resist arrest, but wanted to bribe our officers,” North Lombok police chief Herman Suriyono said Saturday, adding he was found following a tip-off from locals in the area.

After being checked by medical teams he was returned to jail.

The Frenchman was arrested in September allegedly carrying a false-bottomed suitcase filled with 4kg of drugs – including cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines – at the airport on the holiday island next to Bali.

On Friday officials said a female police officer had been arrested for allegedly helping Dorfin escape in exchange for Rp 14.5 million.

Jailbreaks are common in Indonesia, where corruption is endemic at all levels of society and inmates often held in squalid and poorly guarded prisons.

In 2017, four foreign inmates tunnelled their way out of Bali’s Kerobokan prison. Two of them were captured a few days later, but an Australian and Malaysian are still at large.